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Tuesday, November 9, 1999

September 1959: This Lantern Earth


Throughout the 1950s, cinemas and ubiquitous drive-in theaters featured numerous science fiction movies, and it’s safe to say that DC Comics staffers Julius Schwartz, Gil Kane and John Broome saw some of them.

And I’m betting that one of those was This Island Earth, a critically praised 1955 Universal International film that starred Jeff Morrow, Faith Domergue and Rex Reason and was based on the novel by Raymond F. Jones. Prominent elements of the film would be paralleled in DC’s revival of the Green Lantern character in Showcase 22 (Sept.-Oct. 1959).

Nor I am the first to note that. Film buff Heath Holland observed, “As a lifelong comic book fan, I’m struck by the similarities in this story to the comic book title
Even more pointedly, both science fiction adventures begin with a plane, or something resembling a plane, being seized and transported by a powerful alien force.

A mysterious green glow saves Cal Meacham’s life as his Lockheed jet is about to crash in the 1955 film, and whisks Hal Jordan’s flightless trainer away to meet the dying interstellar patrolman Abin Sur in Showcase 22.

To retool the magically powered Aladdin-like superhero of the 1940s into the streamlined jet-age Emerald Crusader of the 1950s, the creators built science fiction elements into the concept, including a corps of alien police officers commanded by a lofty, dispassionate race of “Guardians”  — an idea borrowed from a 1952 Captain Comet story in

Inspiration for both the Captain Comet and Green Lantern stories can be traced to Edward Elmer “Doc” Smith’s 1930s Lensman series of SF novels, which featured telepathically powered space patrolmen guided by “guardians” in the form of the peace-loving, staggeringly ancient Arisians.

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3 comments:

  1. Dan HagenJuly 31, 2020 at 3:58 AM

    Keith W. Williams said, "As soon as I first saw the film, some years ago, I could immediately recognise the influential part it had played in the crafting of the silver-age GL."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dan HagenJuly 31, 2020 at 4:03 AM

    Mark Engblom wrote, "As we learned all the way back to Superman and his crazy-quilt of inspirations, there’s very little in the realm of superhero comics that was uniquely original to that genre. It seems everything can be traced back to something previously (or simultaneously) published or broadcast. I’d imagine the temptation to beg, borrow and steal thematic elements was particularly acute with the tight deadlines of monthly comics, but at the same time, sci-fi in general seemed to be a more “collaborative project” than a fiercely territorial field."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dan HagenJuly 31, 2020 at 4:12 AM

    Patrick McKloskey said, "Very interesting. You've given a lot of info and now I want to view/read all the things you've mentioned!"

    ReplyDelete

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